Doctor Patient Relationship Valued Most by Patients

A doctor’s personality and quality of physician-patient relationship has been listed as the most important factor in patient satisfaction.

Of all the factors that make a “high quality doctor,” 59% of people said that the most important factors were those related to the physician-patient relationship, according to survey by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago involving over 1000 adult participants over the age of 18.

Finding and accessing information on doctors was also an element of the survey, with respondents providing insight into what sources they received information through with the majority (64%) receiving information through family members or friends followed by other doctors or health practitioners (50%.) Other sources listed include accessing doctor information from insurance websites (46%) as well as doctor ratings sites (40%.)

The most trusted source for information on physicians according those surveyed was their family and friends followed by information provided by their healthcare provider. Overall, 83% of respondents said they were happy with their care providers and 76% said that they would recommend their current doctor to others.

A physician-patient relationship is defined as ‘A formal or inferred relationship between a physician and a patient, which is established once the physician assumes or undertakes the medical care or treatment of a patient,’ according to Segen’s Medical Dictionary.